Imphal, Jun 15 : Veteran Congress
leader Rishang Keishing today said the current trouble in Manipur was a
passing phase and everything would be alright one day, while urging the
government not to delay things and calling for discipline among party
members.

After the Parliament felicitated four
surviving first MPs of the country, including 93-year-old Keishing,
Manipur PCC today felicitated the Rajya Sabha member with an impressive
function at the party head office here.

“The problems we face today are temporary
and one day the different communities will work and live together
peacefully,” Keishing said, urging Congress leaders and the government
to “serve the people”.

Keishing, who hails from Kamjong
sub-division of Ukhrul district, was elected to Lok Sabha in the first
Indian elections held in 1952, was a chief minister for four terms and
is currently a member of the Rajya Sabha, the term of which will end in
2014.

After all Congress members deserted the
party and joined other parties before the June 18, 2001, uprising,
Keishing sat as the lone Opposition member in the Assembly.

He calmly abjured the chief ministership
in the early nineties when Rajiv Gandhi sent the then home minister Buta
Singh to replace him with former Union sports minister R.K. Jaichandra
Singh. Keishing commanded majority at that time.

Recalling the event, Keishing today said he stepped down on the advice of Rajiv Gandhi because he was a disciplined Congressman.

Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and home
minister Gaikhangam hailed Keishing as the role model and father figure
of the Congress in Manipur. “It is because of Keishing’s advice and
guidance that the party could today rule the state for the third
consecutive term,” Ibobi Singh said.

Well-known Manipuri singer Shamurailatpam Naba Sharma, popularly known as Naba Volcano, performed Oja (teacher) Rishang in honour of the leader. Today’s felicitation signalled retirement of Keishing after his Rajya Sabha term ended.

The nonagenarian has already groomed his
son, Victor Keishing, to step into his shoes after his retirement from
active politics. Victor was elected from Phungyar constituency in this
year’s Assembly elections on a Congress ticket.

Keishing, who joined the Congress during
the height of Indo-China war in 1964 and remained a local party leader
till date, said he would die a local Congressman.